The Forgotten Lands
by SyntheticSpectrum
Summary: A continuation set 2 weeks after the ending of Inheritance. In their search for a home for the Eldunarya, the new generation of Riders and themselves, Eragon and Saphira unknowingly plunge into a new world filled with treason, mystery and long forgotten civilizations. What type of secrets will they reveal? The fate of the new order of Riders lies on them.
1. Prologue

The two black figures creeped silently through the night, their hoods flowed over their strange twisted bodies, revealing nothing under the dim light. They ran under the light of a waning moon, leaving vague, amorphous footprints in the mud of the forest.

They had been tracking the ship for several weeks now. It appeared to be a normal merchant ship, carrying goods from Hedarth into the Outer Lands. They would hide during the day, away from the light, the sun, and hunt during the night, where they would remain unseen by the locals, and hence, unknown.

They don't know what happens in the land known as Alagaesia. They had heard tales in between their brethren of dragons, of elves in forests as massive as entire oceans, of an immortal king, and the tale of how he was destroyed, by a Rider.

Of course, that was a lie. Dragons didn't exist. Elves had never left their homeland across the Shining Sea, Alalea, in centuries. Except for the Elf colony Zar Vackham, there was no other place on this world with elves. And besides, why would elves live in a forest?

They lived in the south, in Croatoan, a valley in a ring of mountains. To the west and north, Obliviae. A land with a special race, known as the Folgavr. They were a human-elf hybrid, a sort of mismatch in between the two species that began a few hundred years ago when elves reached out into the outer civilizations.

They were two, as they had always been. Their black rugged packs looked light and undisturbed by their abrupt, strange gaits. "Stop. The ship is close. We must hide." Said the creature, in its strange, clicking tongue. It lifted an arm, signaling the other to halt.

They rapidly seeked cover throughout the treeline, their hoods blending in with the shadows around them. Then, they stood, quietly observing the long, crystal river beyond the plains that separated them.

They waited for several minutes. An owl's screech pierced the silence. Their breathing, almost unhearable, was ragged and came in sudden uneasy bursts. It was the only sign of the growing tension between them.

Eventually, a boat with white masts slowly edged its way into their vision. They were too far away to tell for sure, but there seemed to be a blue shiny mass lying on the deck of the ship, as well as the outline of a man. Presumably, precious cargo, exactly what they had been looking for.

They watched silently. The ship was surrounded by what seemed to be several white orbs, which shined and pulsed as if they were alive. They supposed it was sorcery, something they were accustomed to. What the purpose of the orbs was, they weren't sure.

One of them pulled out a longbow from its sheath, which it wore on its back. The bow was made of polished black wood, and notched a stone-grey arrow, made of a special type of tree. It pulled the bow back ever so slowly, until it was drawn to it's full length.

The bow twanged with a faint sound. The arrow flew through the air, as faint as a whisper from a newborn's mouth. As the arrow travelled through the plains, something occurred. A slight change in the atmosphere, or drop in the temperature. They were not sure. 

What they did know, was that suddenly one of the white orbs was gone. It had exploded into a furious blast of bright light, destroying the arrow, and shining its rays into the creatures particular direction.

Then, the blue mass on the ship shifted. It opened up, at first appearing to be like a flower. Then realization dawned on the creatures, for they knew in that moment that this was not a normal merchant ship.

The dragon, for the blue mass was a dragon, lifted itself into the air, spraying fire into the cold night, lighting up the landscape with a an orange glow. The dragon flew into the air, and then focused its attention on the strange figures.

The two creatures ran. They bolted through the forest, hoping desperately for an opportunity to strike at the large blue beast. They heard distantly the sound of ancient language being spoken. A large, white light filled the shadows in the forest. They had nowhere to hide.

The two figures dropped their cloaks. A hard, black insect-like carapace was revealed under the robes. Their mouths were replaced with long, sharp beaks. One of them had a jagged scar across its face, from the bottom of its left eye to where its beak began on the right side of its face.

They pulled out their thin, grey swords, preparing themselves for the impending attack. The dragon spotted them and plunged towards them while folding its wings, appearing like a bright blue dagger heading straight toward them.

The end result was catastrophic. The dragon had halted itself with a few beats of its wing, and then proceeded to fight with the two creatures. The dragon opened its massive jaws, and painted them with fire. Their carapaces were resistant against such attacks, what they weren't resistant to was the giant beasts heavy paws. It struck one of them on the side, crushing its arms instantly, rendering the creature useless. A loud shriek filled the air as the dragon crushed it underfoot. 

The scarred figure, seeing its partner dead, sprang away, running into the darkness of the night. A man jumped off the dragon. He watched warily as the creature ran. He silently picked up the dead insect-like creatures weapons and hoisted himself onto the dragon.

The dragon let out a deep throated roar, resonating throughout the trees. It launched itself into the air, flattening the ground. It quickly fell in pursuit of the remaining creature.

An otherworldly scream filled the air, echoing faintly into the distance.

"So. The Ra'zac have returned." Said a familiar voice.

A deep grunt rang out from the dragon. They lifted themselves into the starry sky, after leveling out, they glided towards the last location of the creature.

"Let's hunt it down then. "

And that they did.


	2. Revelations

**Hello! I took some time on this chapter, so please leave a review, for feedback on how to improve my writing.**

 **Chapter 1: Revelations.**

"They'll be back." Said Blohdgarm reassuringly to the other elves.

They had been waiting for Eragon and Saphira to return for 2 days. After the attack set off one of the defense orbs they had set up, the elves had immediately awoken to prepare themselves for the apparent attack.

Instead, what they found, or more like what they didn't find, was Eragon and Saphira chasing after whatever they had been attacked with.

 _What is happening?_ One elf had said. _Are we under attack?_ Asked another Alfa.

 _Don't follow us!_ Eragon said. _We'll take it on._

Of course, at that moment nobody really knew what 'it' was, and neither Saphira nor Eragon were willing to share any information, in fear that whatever had attacked them might be a spellcaster.

In those two days, they hadn't received anything. No messages through thought, no signs, and absolutely nothing for the elves to know about Eragon and Saphira's well-being. Blohdgarm himself had begun to worry after the first day.

The other elves were in a state of anxiety. Constantly staring at the forest they were

passing, hoping for their companions to return to them.

So far, they had only seen plains, and sometimes a mountain or two in the distance. They had seen no other people, giving them the idea that Alagaesia might be the only place with civilization in proximity.

The waiting was more excruciating than anything. They could easily find the pair with some spells, but they refrained from doing so, since Eragon had cast several wards against such spells.

The Eldunarya didn't have much else to say. _Our minds can reach out farther than yours can, elflings, but even then, we can only sense Eragon and Saphira, and faintly._ Said Valdr. _It's as if something has hid them from our sight._

This only increased the elves unease.

The Talíta, on the other hand, was fine. The Edda river was unchanging, so the boat had an easy time going on its trek. It seemed indifferent to the events around it, as if it didn't need passengers to go where it had to go.

The elves, on the other hand, were getting increasingly stressed.

They tried scrying them, more than once. The result? A gray image, likely because of their own anti-scrying wards.

 _I told those hatchlings not to ward themselves from us. Now we can only wait. Growled_ Glaedr.

"My skin crawls from the thought of those two out alone." Said Blohdgarm.

"They are quite experienced, but these are unknown lands, filled with dangers we've never seen before." Said Yaela.

One more day, and they would send a small excursion to retrieve them. One more day.

The boat floated on gently. The river was long and monotonous, looking quite the same as it had every other day.

Suddenly, one of the elves staring out the bow of the ship stood up, his expression of faint surprise intensified into curiosity.

"Forgive me brethren, but there appears to be something on the horizon." He said in a polite almost ironic tone.

Nothing more than a speck, yet there was _something_. A tower, maybe? A flag? This sudden event didn't wash away the feelings within the elves, but it did help repress it.

The speck gradually enlarged into a large.. _mass_. Then, as they got closer, into a culmination of buildings. And yet, these were buildings of the likes nobody had ever seen before. Strange, curved, with abrupt starts and finishes in the architectural design. They weren't close enough to be sure, but there seemed to be a large collection of people… _waiting._

Blohdgarm thought warily about the whereabouts of Eragon and Saphira.

Little did he know, that they would have to wait much, much longer in order to see their friends again. They were on their own.

 **Eragon**

"This is taking too long." Said Eragon.

They had been trying to dislodge Saphira's wing out of a small crevice, where she had accidentally gotten it stuck in. It had been 2 days since they left the ship to hunt the Ra'zac that had attacked them.

Since then, they had not only lost track twice, but Eragon had almost lost Aren in a river, Saphira's paw had been caught in a larger-than-normal fox den, and now, Saphira had accidentally slipped into a small cave, capturing her wing in the crevice.

It was two hours past noon. They had been walking in between a large oak tree and an even larger stone when Saphira unknowingly stepped into a hole, which turned out to be a large recess under the rock.

 _This wouldn't have happened if you had followed my advice._ retorted Saphira, the blue dragon that Eragon was bonded to. _We should have flown_ over _the forest, instead of treading around on the surface, like so many new-born pups, knocking into trees and making a ruckus._

"Stenr, sharjalví!" Said Eragon. The stone seemed to collapse on itself, shrinking and retreating into the dirt around.

 _You might make a mess while walking on the ground, but I'll remind you that I am much smaller than you, therefore much quieter._ He retorted in a mocking-friendly tone.

A low, steady line of smoke streamed out of Saphira's nostrils. _If I wanted to, I could simply tear down this entire forest, and raze the ruins with my flames._ Said Saphira, with a slightly threatening tone.

 _Point taken._ Answered Eragon.

 _Hmmph._ grunted Saphira.

With a mighty heave, the dragon freed it's wing from the crevice, cracking the stone. They looked around in the forest they were in, trying and failing to recover the track they had been on.

 _This is pointless. These Ra'zac clearly aren't like the ones we've fought before, We should head back to the ship, and keep on our way. We'll have time later on to hunt it down._

 _If these aren't like the ones we've fought before, then how can we know that they won't present a higher threat later on? These are stranger lands, we are weak in knowledge._

He started walking towards the "track" they had been following, only to be intervened by a pouncing Saphira.

 _Did you not hear me?_ growled Saphira. _I will_ not _continue this hunt, and I will_ not _allow you to go on without me._ She lowered her head, her eyes level with Eragon's. _And if you run, I_ will _destroy the forest, and then capture you, drag you back to the ship and lay my paw on you chest, so that you never leave my side again._ The threat hung tightly in the air.

Eragon contemplated running, but knew he could not escape Saphira's clutches in time. Her threat was not idle, He knew she would go to any length to keep Eragon safe. Finally, he gave in.

"Very well." Eragon said. "I'll go with you. But when we have time, we'll come back here, and finish this hunt. Can you promise me that?" Questioned Eragon.

 _I swear we'll come back here and finish this hunt._ She swore in the ancient language.

"Then let's go on our way, and head back to the boat." As he hoisted himself onto the saddle, he heard a slight snick somewhere behind him. So faint, he could've mistooken it for the flutter of a bird.

He turned around sharply, rapidly pulling out his sword from its sheath. From the bushes, came an arrow. So accurately aimed, in fact, that it would've hit Eragon square in the forehead, if not for his wards.

He felt a surprising drop in stamina, the arrow had been going unnaturally fast. Magic? Saphira roared and quickly turned towards the direction of the arrow, successfully knocking Eragon down with her great body.

"Ow!" Complained Eragon.

Two more arrows sprang out from the bushes, bouncing off Saphira's wards. She promptly twirled around using her tail as a huge mace, flattening the underbrush and trees in front of her.

And in the midst of that destruction, Eragon swiftly got to his feet, and sprang towards the now flattened bushes. A dagger flew out, again, stopped by his wards. Now much closer, he yelled: "Brisingr!" His blue sword immediately caught flames, burning and cutting down everything in his blade's way.

With each strike, more of bushes fell down, severed and crisp. In one such cut, the crippled form of the Ra'zac was revealed, with a destroyed, collapsed arm due to Saphira's strike, and a broken beak, revealing a twitching, purple tongue beneath. Surrounding it, an eerie, black puddle of blood.

The Ra'zac raised his hand in a feeble gesture of mercy. It opened it's mouth.

"Huuuuman." It said in a weak, wheezy voice. "I have lived a thieves life. Stealing, hiding, killing. I don't know what you are, but few have been able to defeat one of my kind, none have been able to defeat me. Before I pass on into the void, tell me, what is your name?"

The Ra'zac words reverberated through Eragon. He was incredibly curious, suspicious. Why did this being sound so… proud? Almost as if his life had come to a glorious end, and not the pitiful death that the Rider had given him.

"My name is Eragon Kingkiller, Shadeslayer, Legend and Hero. I come from the land called Alagaesia. And today, I am Death." The Ra'zac seemed to acknowledge his fate, and slowly dropped his hand.

The Rider Eragon lifted his sword, strikingly blue, sending rays of reflected light into the shadows, and brought it down onto the creature known as Ra'zac. A metallic ring marked the end of such creature.

Eragon warily bent, and picked up the creature's weapons.

 _Good riddance._ Said Saphira.

 _Indeed. Let's head back to the Talíta._ Said Eragon.

Eragon lifted himself onto Saphira, and with a quick spell, tightened the saddle, locking himself in place.

They flew out into the sky, heading towards the river. And they flew. For a couple of hours, until nightfall. They promptly stopped by the Edda river for a quick break, preparing themselves to head towards the general direction of their ship.

In the distance, they saw a huge, lonely mountain, something was odd about it… it was.. glowing?

"Saphira, do you see that? Or are my eyes playing tricks on me?" He stood from the campfire he was seated at, almost knocking over his plate of fish.

 _Hatchling. Something is coming our way._ In the distance, they could see colours, orbs flashing their way over the hills, causing winds, headed towards… them.

 _Are those… Spirits?_ His question was duly noted by Saphira, and he felt a slight agreement in her mind, although she said nothing, remaining with the benefit of doubt.

The spirits quickly made their way toward them. Since spirits are rarely seen, Saphira and Eragon decided to stand their ground, albeit in a defensive way.

They would come to regret such decision.

The spirits arrived, causing huge bouts of sand and dirt to be knocked into the air, and consequently, into their faces. 13, they were. All pulsing, changing color, vibrating with life.

One of them stood out from the others. A grey orb floated gently towards him, pulsing briefly with flashes of white and black. It seemed to be their "leader".

A tendril of thought emanated from the orb. It was conscious! The tendril solidified into a tentacle, and then into a massive force, stronger than Glaedr, stronger even than the majority of the Eldunari combined.

"Aaagghh!" He screamed in agony as the orb tore his being apart, destroying his mental defenses, and inspecting his memories. For what, he wasn't sure. It was around this time that he heard, although didn't really catalog, that Saphira was also being analyzed in a same manner.

His last memory was that of a deep thunder, as the ground around him shifted, and transformed.

And just like that, the Rider and Dragon of Alagaesia would be taken to Vorx, the spirit cave. And there they would be captured, but that is another part of this tale.

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **Please leave a review, it helps a lot for me to have feedback.**


	3. Zūf

_Vildro, fenira. Welcome, outsiders._ Said the Folgavr in their strange tongue.

The elves warily walked to the edge of the boat, peering towards the people gathered outside the peculiar town. The first thing they noticed was that the mass of people had all joined their minds, into an impenetrable and astonishing barrier of defense.

While sailing towards the village they had felt the mental hive-mind, and although they were cautious at first, guarding their minds with their mind-shields, they were met with a strong, impenetrable force.

And in half an instant all of the elves had been defeated, they had barely managed to hide from the Folgavr some important pieces of information. The power of the collected strength of all these people was incredible.

After being "Esithro" or "Analyzed" the Folgavr proceeded to apologize for the mental intrusion and to explain to them what they were.

 _We are the Folgavr. We defend the Si'graum river from outsiders and decide who can enter our land, the Land Of Obliviae. We also perimeter the border to Zar Vackham, the Elf-Country to the east. This village is_ _called Dsaeritm Folgadrey, but is also called Zūf, the Northern Barrier._

They recited this piece of information as if they had been born to it. As the words of the Folgavr rolled into the elves mind, the mass of buildings suddenly took on a more aggressive tone. Nooks and cranny's that appeared to have no use now appeared to be peepholes and strategic builds.

With a start, Blohdgarm realized that this culmination of buildings was, in fact, a large fortress. With the dock being built in a way that it makes it impossible to take by sea, with outcroppings for archers and slight disturbances in the ground for foot soldiers to trip on.

The terrain around Zūf was flat and built in a way that if archers were to attack them, the wind from the plains would be against them, and helping the village archers in the case of an invasion. This doesn't hold true for all angles, but those coming from the north of Zūf, it does.

He noticed the villagers were all armed with strange, curved, one-edged swords, that had quite a graceful look to them. The Folgavr themselves mostly looked like elves, but most of them were dark-skinned, or unusually tall, or with strange hybrids in their facial characteristics, with some being very rounded in the middle of their eyes, like a human, just for them to suddenly point outwards, like an elf.

 _How is this possible?_ Questioned Finarea, one of the spellcasters. _There is only one Elf-Country, and it is-_

 _Silence elf._ Cut off the Folgavr. _You have been all inspected, but even then you are dangerous. We know from your memories of how you came to be, and about Galbatorix and Eragon. What we don't know, is the whereabouts of Eragon. So for now, you will remain ours. We will hold you captive, and wait for the Rider._

As the Folgavr finished speaking, they suddenly attacked, overwhelming the elves in an instant. Again, the elves very narrowly managed to hide some memories from the giant tide of force that was the Folgavr.

The last thing Blohdgarm remembered was darkness.

Darkness.

And then, in that darkness, light. Infernal, burning, infinite light.

Blohdgarm woke to the sound of dragons. He shot up, surrounded by his brothers and sisters. He felt deeply confused, as the first thing that he noticed was that in fact, he was still on the ship. He clumsily stood up, careful to not knock into anything. He had a terrible headache, that throbbed and pulsed in the back of his head.

He stood up, and looked out the starboard of the Talíta, and was astonished to see that the Folgavr were… in the exact same position. It was as if he was seeing them through an What was happening? Then, he noticed the magic. There was a vibration in the air, and he saw a thin cap floating around the ship, as thin as paper.

He felt the power and the amount of energy coursing through the air. This was no ordinary spell.

How long had he been there? The sun was in a different position than before. Last time he had seen it it was an hour before sunrise. Now it looked to be… several hours before sunrise. Had an entire day passed away? Had several?

Blohdgarm was astonished. As all these questions ran through the elves mind, they came to a definite conclusion. They had to escape, for no power was stronger than the need of a home for the Riders.

Whoever these people thought to be, none would be able to restrain Blohdgarm. He would _not_ allow it.

"You can't keep us here!" Yelled Yaela. "We have a journey to fulfill, and it _will_ not be detained by you." Sensing the imminent fight, Blohdgarm quickly sent a mental message to the other elves, telling them to prepare themselves.

 _You cannot fight us, elves. We are much too powerful._ Said the Folgavr confidently.

 **A terrible roar filled their minds. It was the Eldunari, for they had been awakened. The elves felt a surge of rage from the eldest dragon, Valdr, and were even more astonished when they felt recognition emanate from the Eldunari. They knew these people.**

 _Morgal! Remove this constraint!_ Demanded Umaroth.

The elves from the Talíta readied themselves for the battle, pulling out swords, bows and other weapons of war. Blohdgarm was mentally reciting to himself spells for this fight. They didn't know the extent of power of these people, and, in consequence, they were treading in unknown lands.

 _Well then. So be it._ thought Blohdgarm.

 _Elves._ Said the Folgavr in a warning tone. _You can't defeat us. You don't even know what the purpose of the barrier is, nor what it can do. Stop._

"Free us!" Said one of the elves. And so he rushed forward in a desperate action, bringing the tip of his blade on the thin film that was the barrier.

And as his sword hit, a bright light emerged from the place he had marked, and he felt a _whoosh,_ as the land around him suddenly vanished, and the abrupt lurch of unexpected movement. He looked off the side of the ship and was astonished to see that the ship was.. _traveling._ Flying through the air, seemingly guided by an unknown force.

The ship flew over a large unnamed lake, and in the distance, they saw a large culmination of mountains, much like the Beor Mountains. Eventually, they hit a forest, and, rising tall and strong, a massive tree. With the trunk being as large as a small city. It was incredibly large, rising high above the mountains. It was beautiful.

And that they flew over as well. Below them, the lush forest turned into an empty landscape, a constant smoothness broken only by the occasional river, or a small settlement. They were soaring at quite a high level, a little below the clouds. The thin cap surrounding the ship seemed to create an internal atmosphere, unaffected by the howling winds.

Blohdgarm contemplated this with an analytic eye. This was _nothing_ like they had ever confronted before. The power needed to create such a spell was vast. They were complete, utterly useless.

And as they were flying, Blohdgarm noticed something. A speck of curiosity emerged from his subconscious, gradually turning into concern, and then utter anxiety and worrying.

The Eldunari. The eggs. They weren't on the ship.

And so the elves were driven far, far away from from the small, fortress-town of Zūf.

They were about to meet a far worse fate than they could have ever imagined, for they were being sent to Mel' Kiam, the Capital City of Obliviae.

And just a dozen leagues away from the strange village of Zūf, Vorx, the spirit-cave. And in Vorx, Eragon and Saphira. Now, read carefully, for it is time to tell their tale.


End file.
